A well generally includes a wellbore (or “borehole”) that is drilled into the earth to provide access to a geographic formation below the earth's surface (often referred to as “subsurface formation”) to facilitate the extraction of natural resources, such as hydrocarbons and water, from the formation, to facilitate the injection of fluids into the formation, or to facilitate the evaluation and monitoring of the formation. In the petroleum industry, wells are often drilled to extract (or “produce”) hydrocarbons, such as oil and gas, from subsurface formations. The term “oil well” is typically used to refer to a well designed to produce oil. In the case of an oil well, some natural gas is typically produced along with oil. A well producing both oil and natural gas is sometimes referred to as an “oil and gas well” or “oil well.”
Developing an oil well typically includes a drilling stage, a completion stage, and a production stage. The drilling stage normally involves drilling a wellbore into a portion of a subsurface formation that is expected to contain a concentration of hydrocarbons that can be produced, often referred to as a “hydrocarbon reservoir” or “reservoir.” The drilling process is usually facilitated by a surface system, including a drilling rig that sits at the earth's surface. The drilling rig can, for example, operate a drill bit to cut the wellbore, hoist, lower and turn drill pipe, tools and other devices in the wellbore (often referred to as “down-hole”), circulate drilling fluids in the wellbore, and generally control various down-hole operations. The completion stage normally involves making the well ready to produce hydrocarbons. In some instances, the completion stage includes installing casing, perforating the casing, installing production tubing, installing down-hole valves for regulating production flow, and pumping fluids into the well to fracture, clean or otherwise prepare the formation and well to produce hydrocarbons. The production stage involves producing hydrocarbons from the reservoir by way of the well. During the production stage, the drilling rig is usually and replaced with a collection of valves at the surface (often referred to as a “production tree”). The production tree is operated in coordination with down-hole valves to regulate pressure in the wellbore, to control production flow from the wellbore and to provide access to the wellbore in the event additional completion work (often referred to as a “workover”) is needed. A pump jack or other mechanism can provide lift that assists in extracting hydrocarbons from the reservoir, especially when the pressure in the well is so low that the hydrocarbons do not flow freely to the surface. Flow from an outlet valve of the production tree is normally connected to a distribution network of midstream facilities, such as tanks, pipelines and transport vehicles that transport the production to downstream facilities, such as refineries and export terminals. In the event a completed well requires workover operations, such as repair of the wellbore or the removal and replacement of down-hole components, a workover rig may need to be installed for use in removing and installing tools, valves, and production tubing.